11 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Professional Real Estate Photographer

You only have one chance to make a first impression. Studies show that, for most real estate consumers, the first impression is a the photography of an online listing.

Today's buyers have very high visual expectations and very short attention spans. So how do you make your listing stand out? How do you capture the attention of the consumer and make them want to know more?

One of the best ways is to hire a professional real estate photographer. Here are 11 reasons why:

1. More online views. According to a study done by Redfin, listings shot with DSLR professional photography receive 61% more online views than their competitor's listings.

2. Better first impressions. For 95% of online shoppers, the first thing they look at is your listing's front exterior photo. Furthermore, studies show that they will spend about twenty seconds looking at that front exterior photo, before moving on to the other photos or listing details. Make that first 20 seconds really count!

3. Higher selling price. A listing marketed with professional DSLR photography have a higher perceived value and sell for more money. That's right, according to the Wall Street Journal, these listings gain anywhere from $934 to $116,076 at the closing table! Add those stats to your listing presentation when you're competing with an agent who takes his or her own photos.

4. More likely to sell. That's right, according to Redfin, homes with professional DSLR photos are more likely to sell than those with point and shoot images. The study showed an increase across all price ranges, varying from 5 percent to 17 percent.

5. Sell faster. Redfin's study also showed that listings with professional DSLR photos sell faster. Time varied by price range, but in the $400,000 range, homes sold on average three weeks faster. That's a pretty staggering stat!

6. Your image. You should care about your image(s)! That's right, your home owners have hired a professional real estate agent to market their home. Don't you think you should hire a professional photographer to take the listing photos?

7. Win more listing. Let's face it, there is a lot of listing competition out there. Having a beautiful portfolio of previous listing photos just may help you win that listing. Especially when you combine it with the stats previously mentioned.

8. Social media content. Visual content is all the rage in social media these days, and having a library of beautiful professional photos in a huge asset. Use those photos on sites like Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ and Facebook to attract interest and gain referrals.

9. Save time. Great photography not only requires time at the photoshoot, it requires time for editing and uploading. Most Realtors are at their best when listing, showing and selling properties. So why take time away from what you do best to shoot and edit photos? Instead, hire a professional photographer to do what he or she does best.

10. Higher quality results. Lets be brutally honest here. Owning a professional DSLR camera does not make you a photographer anymore than owning a set of watercolor paints makes you an artist. Professional photographers do photography for a living. They practice often, and they know lighting, angles and composition. They know how to take an ordinary room and make it look extraordinary.

11. Trigger emotion. Beautiful photos trigger an emotional response. And emotion sells. In fact, for most buyers, emotion is about 80 percent of the buying decision. Buyers use logic to choose price ranges, locations, and home sizes. But from there, most consumers will rely on emotion to choose the homes they visit in person and ultimately purchase.

To view the original article, visit the Obeo blog.